P for potato for #AtoZChallenge: potato salad with yogurt dressing recipe by ServicefromHeart

Potato is starchy tuberous food that we often enjoy, from french fries to potato soup. Being versatile, potatoes have been used in a wide variety of recipes worldwide. After maize, wheat and rice, potato comes forth as the world's largest food crop.



The starch of potato is a source of carbohydrate, that fuels our body. For variations in rice-dominating Asian diets, consider serving potatoes as a meal. 

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 18 Fri, I lovingly present a recipe of potato salad with yogurt dressing by ServicefromHeart. Classic potato salad uses mayonnaise and herein we substitute the mayonnaise with nutritious yogurt, especially good for growing children. 

Serving: 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 500 g potatoes (土豆 / kentang)
♥ 1 egg (鸡蛋 / telor)
♥ 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (香醋 / cuka balsamic)
♥ 5 tbsp plain / Greek yogurt (酸奶)
♥ fresh chives (韭菜 / kucai), chopped
♥ 1 scallions (葱 / daun bawang), cut into thin rings

Directions:
1. Wash potatoes thoroughly. Cook in boiling, salted water for 25-30 minutes or until tender when pierced.
2. Hard boil egg.
3. Meanwhile, wash and cut scallions and chives.
4. Mix vinegar, yogurt, pepper for dressing.
5. Drain cooked potatoes, leave to steam dry.
6. Peel dried cooked potatoes and egg. Cut into bite-size chunks.
7. Gently toss potatoes with dressing.
8. Garnish with scallions and chives.

Tips:
♥ For variations, substitute scallion with parsley.
♥ Store potatoes in dry and dark place. Do not use the potatoes if sprouts have grown because the sprouts contain toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids.

If this recipe takes too long to prepare, how is about our other #5minutemeal recipes?

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Danielle Tsi's scallop and potato salad at Beyond The Plate
♥ Luisa Weiss's Ottolenghi's potato salad with yogurt and horseradish at The Wednesday Chef based in Berlin; How is about substituting horseradish with wasabi?
♥  potato battercake of of Xiaomei Pig (小媚猪) at Weekjoy (in Chinese)

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140418

N for noodle for #AtoZChallenge: quick-to-cook noodles for breakfast

Since Dear has to go to work in early mornings, our favorite noodles are those that are quick-to-cook, but not instant noodles - which were originally invented by Momofuku Ando (吴百福) of Nissin Foods in Japan.



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 16 Wed, I lovingly introduce 3 favorite quick-to-cook noodles:
♥ misua
♥ kway teow  
♥ udon

♥♥♥

Misua, also known as mee sua / 面线, is a variety of dried salted Chinese noodles that cooks in less than 2 minutes in boiling water. 

A symbol of longevity in Chinese culture, misua - a thin wheat flour noodle, is a humble breakfast for a birthday celebration.

How is about a whole wheat misua for a quick yet filling breakfast?



♥♥♥

Kway teow /  粿条 is a flat rice noodle that is commonly used for stir-frying, affectionately known as char kway teow / stir-fried kway teow in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

We also love to cook a soup using chilled kway teow for breakfast, it is ready in less than 2 minutes!



♥♥♥

Udon / うどん / 烏冬 is thick wheat flour noodle in Japanese cuisine, that is often served in kakejiru broth with tempura. 

I also love stir-fried udon in soy-based sauce, known as yaki-udon.

How is about a plate of no-fry udon with vegetable soup? Enjoy its recipe & the udon!

I buy chilled udon without any pre-packed seasoning, as a homemade seasoning of sesame oil, honey, vinegar, finely chopped fresh cilantro can be easily made.

Add some quick-to-cook vegetables such as celery or bok choy. 



Soup / juice / extract from steaming fish can be used as a seasoning for udon or some other types of noodles. Keep the soup in fridge for the next day / morning use. Without the need to warm the cold soup, add in hot boiled noodles and stir immediately.



The water used to boil noodles can be used for hard-boiled egg to save gas / electricity for us.

Directions:
1. Once noodles are cooked, immediately drain the boiling water into a bowl containing a fresh egg. The temperature of the boiling water matters, it has to be high.
2. Cover the bowl to let the egg sits for at least 10 minutes*.
3. Serve the half-boiled egg with a dash of soy sauce and a pinch of freshly ground pepper.

* I prefer my egg to be more cooked but not fully cooked. 

Other recipes that I love:
♥ misua meat ball, known as almondigas / bola-bola in Philippines; bola means ball in Bahasa Indonesia. How is about trying a MSG-free version of misua meat ball @ Mga Luto Ni Lola (My Grandma's Recipes) by GJ Coleco?
♥ Singapore-style half-boiled egg by Jason Ng @ Feast To The World

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

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With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140416

easy sushi rice balls with balsamic vinegar recipe (ada Bahasa Indonesia juga)

What is sushi rice? It is vinegared rice used to make sushi. We remembered: once we were told, at an Asian restaurant that we managed to find open at a late winter night in Paris, that they were running out of steamed rice. "Would you mind if we use sushi rice instead?" Being hungry, we quickly nodded and accepted the offer. It turned out to be a very delicious meal - a meal to remember.

The choice of vinegar matters. Normally, rice vinegar is used to make sushi rice. Japanese rice vinegar normally contains ~5% acetic acid. For today's sushi rice balls, I used balsamic vinegar of Modena (Leonardi brand) with 6% acidity.



Do you love adventures? Sushi that we love has probably traveled from southern China to Japan - a country symbolized by sushi, in accordance to Marc Matsumoto.

In preparing our meals in simple and easy ways, we can be adventurous too. Perhaps, sushi rice can go with other not-so-common sushi ingredients.

Recently, baby Ren's Godmother introduced us to Nestle Cheerios cereals. Both ouf us love them. Besides eating them as a snack, with oatmeal, how else can we enjoy them?




Soft sushi rice can go well with crunchy cereals. Serve with goldfish made of cherry tomatoes and kids will like them!



Serving: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes (depends on your rice cooker)

Ingredients:
♥ 1 rice cooker cup (newly harvested, if possible) rice grains
♥ 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
♥ 1 tbsp honey
♥ 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Rinse and gently rub rice grains (using sieve, if possible) to remove dirt. If you have extra time, soak washed rice for 30 minutes before cooking for fluffier texture.
2. Cook rice using rice cooker using rice:water ratio of 1:1.5 (normally, I will use 1:2 ratio for steamed rice).
3. Meanwhile, mix balsamic vinegar, honey, salt in a small bowl.
4. While the cooked rice is hot, add vinegar mixture over the rice (in a wooden container, if possible). Gently toss without destroying delicate grains of rice*.
5. Make into balls. I prefer to use thoroughly washed bare hands. Wet hands can minimize sushi rice get stuck on our hands.
6. Garnish sushi rice balls with cheese, cilantro, cereals, sesame seeds (optional).


* It is okay if you break some grains, so do I. We are learning, and even great sushi chefs practice over 10,000 hours to retain the original shapes of each grain of rice. 


  
Other recipes that I love:
♥ Marc Matsumoto's sushi rice at No Recipes
♥ Namiko Chen's sushi rice at Just One Cookbook
♥ Issendai's how to cook Japanese rice

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.



Brief ingredients and Directions in Bahasa Indonesia:
♥ 1 gelas (ukuran rice cooker) beras baru panen
♥ 1 sdm cuka
♥ 1 sdm madu
♥ 1/4 sdt garam

1. Bilas butiran beras dengan saringan untuk menghilangkan kotoran. Jika anda memiliki waktu ekstra, rendam beras  selama 30 menit sebelum dimasak supaya teksturnya pulen.
2. Masak nasi menggunakan rice cooker dengan perbandingan beras:air 1:1,5 (biasanya, saya akan menggunakan perbandingan 1:2 untuk nasi putih).
3. Sementara itu, campur cuka, madu, garam dalam mangkuk kecil.
4. Ketika nasi masih panas, tambahkan campuran cuka ke dalam nasi (dalam wadah kayu, jika ada). Aduk secara lembut tapi cepat tanpa merusak butiran beras.
5. Buat bola nasi sushi dengan tangan bersih. Basahkan tangan sedikit supaya nasi sushi tidak lengket di telapak tangan.
6. Hias nasi sushi dengan keju, ketumbar, sereal, biji wijen.



With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140222

easy tasty sweet potato recipe by ServicefromHeart

Tender and buttery sweet potatoes make a filling meal that goes well with fragrant cilantro, sweet honey and pungent raw garlic.



I am happy that today I managed to shop for red sweet potatoes from Malaysia at Cold Storage Novena. In term of easy-to-peel shapes, I prefer sweet potatoes sold at Cold Storage than at NTUC Fairprice, though the latter sells cheaper.



Eating humble root vegetables like sweet potatoes always reminds me on humility and versatility. In the past, our Indonesian friends brought us sweet potato chips as a snack souvenir upon returning to celebrate lebaran at kampung hometowns. Crispy companions for our chit-chats, sweet potatoes I love you! Food always remind us on family, friends and people. Every bite, every chew, and every swallow - brings all joyful memories.

Rich in vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes can be steamed, boiled, baked, mashed or deep-fried with a wide variety of ingredients. Instead of using oil for deep frying, next time I would consider (1) oven frying, to make sweet potatoes as a component for tempura and (2) a method combining of steaming and very shallow frying.

Serving: 1
Preparation and cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 3 medium (@100g) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
♥ 4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
♥ 1 strawberry, quartered
♥ 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
♥ 1 tbsp honey
♥ 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil
♥ 1 tsp sesame seeds
♥ 1 clove garlic, pressed
♥ pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Boil sweet potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tenderly soft.
2. Mix oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, pepper. Toss tomatoes and strawberries with the seasoning mixture.
3. Drain sweet potatoes well, leave to steam dry. Gently toss with the rest of ingredients.  
4. Sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish.

Tips:
♥ Don't throw away the water you used to boil sweet potatoes. Some nutrients from sweet potatoes are dissolved in it. Add the hot water to (pre-cooked, non-creamy) soup to make bowls of warm soup.* This way, we can save little gas or electricity.
♥ For variations, garnish with pumpkin seeds or chopped nuts e.g. pistachios, walnuts.
♥ Store sweet potatoes in a cool, dry, dark place. Do not refrigerate sweet potatoes, as they will dehydrate.

* For tonight meal, I mix the boiling water with six-flavor soup. Delicious! Mom advised us to start our meal with drinking soup, then wait ~15 minutes before continuing to the main course, so that our stomach will not overwork.



If this recipe takes too long, how is about other #5minutemeal recipes?

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140221